Tarn's Legacy

Been a while since we updated the log… I’m gonna just start doing bullet points because I think we’ll use it more that way, even if its kinda lame :)

*Started in Pitax, finished resting at rebel warehouse
*We had three major choices:
-Rescue the rebel leader
-Assassinate, or question the new head of the palace guards
-Investigate the estate of the head of the Wizard Council; Something Starsomething
*The chance to rescue the rebel leader was in a week and the estate was a day away, so we decided to try to do both, starting with the estate.
*Left at night and the city gates were locked
*We were made by the city guards, but a small bribe helped smooth it over
*We were attacked by some goblins and their orc leader, and pwned them good
*We found 800 gold and some potions on them. Woohoo!
*Then we stayed at a small village in a hay-bed loft near th estate
*We found out that there was a city nearby worth checking out
*Lumorn and Klink went to scout the mansion while everyone else went to the city
*Lumorn discovered some information about the estate, including some fishy stuff going on around the Swan Garden, which we suspect is an entrance.
*In the city we met a noble (Kel posed as one himself) and eventually went to see some gladiatorial games.
*In the games we saw, Urndrkr, who we assume was captured and forced into it.
*After some research and shmoozing, we came up with a plan to free Urndrkr.
*We managed to get Lumorn in the arena to fight a Polar Bear, and if he won he would fight Urndrkr, who would then take the fall, then we would win a bunch of money and buy him for cheap, since he just lost.
*Lumorn had some bad luck against the polar bear and was defeated.
*Kel was able to sneak a message to Urndrkr to take the fall in his next fight anyway, so we could win enough money to buy him for cheap.
*Urndrkr fought a Dire Boar and looked like he might have died… and we won 3,000 gold on the fight.

So we rested up after our first journey into the dungeons underneath Pitax. We refreshed our gear and steeled our resolve in anticipation of another grueling attempt to flush the evil dwarves and the filth they have spawned below the city. Unfortunately (and not surprisingly), we found the cellar near the old man’s house where we entered to be newly barred shut. We set a blacksmith to the task of opening it again, and while he banged on it and made noise we decided we might try and slip in the other entrance we knew of.

Things started to get interesting when across the street, looking very out-of-place, two palace guards stood watch over the old abandoned building that . This goes a long way towards confirming my suspicions that the leadership in this town is corrupt and directly involved with the city’s decay. Upon seeing the guards, we tried to slip into an alley unnoticed but failed. When they pursued, Trurl diverted their attention with a slippery spell and we thought it best to exit gracefully rather than cause a scene in a crowded street.

Surely at this point we have started to draw undue attention towards ourselves. Even with a relatively easy escape here, there is not many more conspicuous companions than a forest gnome riding a large mastiff and a Half-Elf sorcerer (who are not thought highly of in the area). Even for a town as diverse as Pitax, some form of disguise may become a daily necessity. I feel we are wearing out our welcome, but curiosity and a sense of moral duty keeps us riveted to our quest. There are so many unanswered questions. First and foremost we need connect the dots between this underground filth and The Queen, hopefully find or rescue Balon, and then help the people regain a foothold on this city.

When we circled back around to the Cellar it was locked, the blacksmith nowhere in sight, with a trail of blood giving evidence of foul play. Sad at having caused this we trudged on, and with no place to go, we returned to the Shaman of Gruumsh for guidance. He was as overcome with jubilant rapture to see us in his church as the last time we visited, and begrudgingly sent us towards an old abandoned well in the poor side of town that would hopefully allow us to continue our investigation.

When heading down here we immediately came upon a situation. A large cavern with three Duergars pummeling a well-dressed citizen. After dispatching of two one got away and ran upstairs. We healed the man, Sir Fredrick Drake, and after brief questioning found out he was a city councilman who had disagreed with some of the new changes the Queen desired. He then was pulled out of his home in the middle of the night and brought into the dungeon. We freed him and he gave us the coordinates of where he would leave us a reward, which we promised to use towards helping the cause of helping the city. He left in a hurry to get his wife and children and escape further.

The rest was a blur. We ran upstairs, found the key and set off an alarm. After heading down and opening the Iron door, we came into contact with a huge shadowy cloak-like creature that
beat us up pretty bad. We were able to escape and head back out of the well. When we got to the top we were quickly spotted by palace guards and chased. A nice young man let us seek refuge in his hut while the guards passed. After talking a bit, he revealed to us he was working with the Rebels, whose leader, Something Eagle, was recently captured by the Queen. He gave us the location of their hideout and told us their secret knock. We left there and went to sleep in our run-down hotel. We woke up feeling incredible! Hopefully we will find Urndurkur, Lumorn and any other stout warriors to join our cause…

So we finally made it to Pitax. After a long grueling journey from Shea O Ghoul (sp?), we barely escaped the clutches of dehydration and took a boat up the South Fork of the Horazon River. This eventually led us directly into the my hometown of Pitax. I’ve never had any desire to come back here, considering the way I left, and so far nothing has happened to dispel that foreboding notion.

The city is rife with chaos. There is a split the factions of a seemingly corrupt group of mages who have the ear of the queen, and a rebel army waiting to revolt. A flood of desperate refugees are fleeing from a bevy of hardships that have scorched the countryside. The pestilence that has swept the land has sunk in deeply here… outright pandemonium and anarchy seems inevitable.

We did happen upon a bit of luck. We arrived to the city in a panic, as our newest comrade Trurl had fallen in battle and we were eager to revive him. With little hope in sight we were aided by a seemingly benevolent and caring Wizard name Balon. He found the aid of a half-orc shaman who performed the holy ceremony in trade for our Wish scroll. Difficult to give up such a prize, but the spell was far beyond our abilities to activate, and at least it seemed to be falling into the hands of the right people. Balon is one of the major Wizards in a Council of Nine, who have major sway in the city, and claims to be the only one with good intentions. They are mighty suspicious of Sorcerer’s here and everyone seems to be able to identify me as such.

After making our rounds through the city, updating our wares and boarding up at the Golden Calf, we left a note for Balon letting him know we were anxious to aid his cause. Late that night his servant awoke us and took us to meet him. In an unfortunate twist of fate, as we approached the warehouse near his manor, it had already been set ablaze with Balon nowhere in sight. When searching around the place for clues we spotted a shadowy figure and chased it into an alleyway. He was nowhere to be found.

Without anywhere to turn to, we searched out the Shaman of Gruumsh who had revived Trurl when we first arrived. Although he was far from overjoyed to see us again (we obviously stick out like drunken dwarves in a village of high elves), he was helpful. He mentioned that the cloaked figure could have been a Duergar, who’ve been spotted in the city recently. We located some local half-orcs, who have had made the most reports of the Dark Dwarves lately. One of them had valuable information, and gave us the location of a cellar he had seen a Duergar disappear into recently.

We found the cellar and, after convincing the old man who lived there we were taking care of rodents, we entered through his cellar to find a stinky dungeon. Here we ran into some Deuger, hordes of rats that fell through the roof, and eventually came upon some sort of evil religious hall. After killing a masked acolyte we let another one get away (they all can become invisible at will). We decided to head back towards the entrance, making a small detour on the way in one last attempt to find Balon. On the way we were attacked by a Minotaur and eventually some more Deuger guards. We stupidly split up and I almost was killed in an abandoned Inn. I ran out of the room and into the streets, with the strength to cast one last spell in hopes of deterring pursuit. I awoke in a local hospital, where I currently am sitting and writing this…

A sickening thud. Looking down briefly I see a large arrow piercing my gut before I plummet into unconsciousness. As my lifeforce slips away I can vaguely sense my comrades also falling to sword and steel. Awaiting my departure from this material realm, into the rapture of my beloved Aasterinian, I feel a deep sadness. A knowledge that we failed, not only at completing our innermost desires, but a failure to meet destiny as we should have. Finally I feel a pulling, and as my spirit reels from my mortal coil I release an ethereal sigh, deep within, wondering if this is a pain I shall forever sustain.

As I rise above the cursed Stronghold, my ascent begins to slow. Looking down, I can clearly see Francis and Jad’Zia achieving an improbable escape! A sliver of satisfaction begins to make its way through the deep void within. Sensing others in my presence I look around, surprised to find I am surrounded by the glimmering apparitions of my recently deceased brethren. A sense of calm comes as we all emanate a peace of mind and contentment that this wasn’t all for naught. Looking up I can feel the presence of our respective deities smiling down at us, waiting. What were they waiting for?

At once we all perceive a similar epiphany. The gods were giving us a choice. Release our souls willingly into the rapture of our spirit worlds, and forever live jubilantly in peace. Or…… or what? Or do not refuse our destiny. Stay here. Set our intentions forever towards our goal and help fate guide us there. The pieces are in place. Powerful allies alive and eager to aid our cause. A benevolent fighter, leader amongst our executioners. A mighty wizard, friendly to our plight. A rescued Druid, who’s mystery has yet to be uncovered. Of course there is the resourceful and resilient Cleric, who’s ability to surprise and achieve seems almost unmatched. Decidedly this is no choice at all. A resolve settled over the four of us. We would risk everything, possibly a life forever spent in purgatory, for but one chance to return and place ourselves rightfully back along our path. Here we stay, here we stand, a Unified Front. Together as One.

From the Journal of Francis Dashwood

Well that went poorly. Everyone’s dead back at the Grey-Mane Stronghold. I somehow made it out alive with Jad’zia and we quickly hurried back through the forest to Casmaran’s hideout. I have told Casmaran that I will be his apprentice, companion, and brewmaster (mainly for the Orges) in exchange for a place to lay low while things settle down (I’m sure all the bandits, bounty hunters, and merchants in the area are out for my head) and Jad’zia recovers.

Jad’zia is still in shock and is spending most of her time drifting in and out of sleep. She has recognized me, and the distinct taste of my beer, during one of her half-awake states, so at least she knows she is safe. Once she regains her consciousness, I will fill her in on everything that has happened while she has been encased in stone.

I have prepared a wake of sorts for my fallen comrades that Casmaran and the Ogres will be attending. Hopefully with my Clerical and Divine magicks, I will be able to guide their souls through the Astral Plane to the realm of their chosen Gods, where they may rest eternally in peace.

Perhaps I have lucked out, in a way, as the Elves probably will not be as aggressively hunting me. In fact, with the Spear, now, most likely in their clutches, and the bodies of my fallen comrades available for their viewing, they might abandon the hunt all together. I can only hope.

I am not sure how long I will be staying with Casmaran and his Ogres, but it certainly will not be a short stay. Perhaps I can learn a thing or two from him during my tenure here. He is quite a crafty fellow, but he may be too absent-minded to be an effective teacher and trainer.

It is getting late in the day and I must now go prepare my Extra Special Funeral Brew for the Wake at sundown.

Another adventuring party comes to a tragic end and, again, I must abandon the Road and the thrill of Adventure for the foreseeable future. Farewell, my friends. It seems Misfortune follows me in the shadows wherever I go…….

From the Journal of Francis Dashwood

Journal Entry 1

That bumbling ogre has passed out so now I am alone with my thoughts. I stole some paper from Kel and some ink and a quill from that crazy wizard. Too drunk to sleep so I figured I would write about what happened recently, as this may be one of my final days in this plane of existence.

It all started on the morning of the 14th day of The Time of Flowers. We had just finished off a couple giant mantises the night before and were on our way to find this wizard’s place, so we could save Jad’zia. My companions do not yet know the full history of our past together, but they seem to understand that we share a bond.

Anyway, with Lumorn at the front, we stumbled our way through the forest for nearly the whole goddamn day, completely lost. Lumorn seems like a good ranger, but man, I guess he must’ve smoked too much pipeweed that morning or something. We stumbled upon the nest of a giant reptile-eagle thing. That thing fucked us up something good. But we survived (barely), thanks in large part to a good backstab from that little gnomish cunt, Thoben. While I dont trust Thoben all that much, he would’ve made a great member of the Brigade. I really hope hes not dead.

So we killed that giant lizard-bird and managed to find our way back to the hill where we woke up the day before. We rested for the night, got up in the morning, and tried to make it to that waterfall we were told to find. Lumorn stayed away from the pipeweed and he led us through the forest to the waterfall.

We walked through the waterfall and got caught in a trap (of course). A hungry ogre stepped out and commented on how delicious Thoben looked. Kel convinced him that we could make him a better meal than Thoben-stew, if he let us speak to his master. I gave him some beer to seal the deal, and he freed us and led us to his master, who turned out to be the wizard we were looking for.

We struck a deal with the wizard, I dont remember the specifics (thats Kel’s job), but it basically entailed us clearing out his basement in exchange for freeing Jad’zia from her stone prison.

This is where things went wrong. We killed some creatures in the cavernous basement, found some loot, and as we were making our way through a passage, we triggered a trap. Me and Lumorn were up front when two Giant axes swung from the ceiling, smacking me right in the good old beer belly. It hurt a lot and made me bleed but the axe pretty much just bounced off.

Lumorn suffered a much worse fate. Sliced right in half. If only his gut was as big as mine, he might still be alive. Watching him with his final seconds of strength try to shove his insides back in his body, hit a bit too close to home and brought back some bad memories.

We quickly picked up his remains and carried them back to the wizard. We struck another deal with him: He would raise Lumorn from the dead if we brought him the requisite amount of diamonds needed for the spell, as well as two rolls of silk. But it needed to happen fast. I gave Thoben all our valuables to trade (prolly a bad idea), and he ran off into the dark towards Dragonport.

Its now been nearly 3 days and Thoben hasnt returned. I have spent my time drinking with my new ogre friend and preserving Lumorn’s remains with divine magic. I fear Thoben isnt returning. I am going to talk about my new plan with Kel and Noris once they wake up. Its a good plan, methinks. But maybe all these ogre songs have been boistering my courage too much…

This is our adventure as of January 17th 2014

Part One

A Meeting Of Five Strangers:

Vardah
The Five of us meet by chance at Minituar’s Head Tavern where Francis worked as a barkeep. Here we meet Crawley who tells of us possible treasure guarded by undead. Still weary of each other, we follow Norris towards the Fighters Guild.

After some back and forth banter we eventually fight and kill the evil group of Fighters. Went back to Min’s Head and got drunk, celebrated and slept with wenches.

Woke up in the morning to warnings that the Fighters Guild is out for Vengeance Escaped with our lives (killing a few more) and fled into the woods.

Began heading towards Colin’s Point Met Carmain The Good Cleric of Pelor on the way (was investigating missing children)

Went to Inn @ Colin’s P, were told where Old Man & Lighthouse were located, visited Old Man, he was out of his mind, set a goat free. Went to Lighthouse, received information on location of Undead Treasure Dungeon

Went to Dungeon. Failed miserably most of the time, almost dying on multiple occasions. Eventually met with Artemis, the scholar who was concerned with Karn, his General , and the safety of the world. Eventually leading to the tomb of Tardek, where he grasped Tardek’s Spear. We all had out-of-body experiences as Artemis pushed the kid off of the coffin, a large black hand popped out. We wake up, Artemis is in the same place and dead.

Notes: Walls of the cave were covered in blood, with draconic writing, and piles of dead sailor bodies were in the middle of the room. Crows following us everywhere.

Part Two

On the Lam:

We left the dungeon to rest, and were heading back to clear it out when we ran into a group of Elven Paladin’s. They blamed us for releasing Tardek back into the realm. Uninterested in out protest they took us as prisoners and brought us towards their homeland for trial.

On our way, they got into what sounded like a great battle nearby. We escaped from our binds and a dazed elf returned. The elf handed the spear to Francis and asked him to flee and protect it. We ditched some gear and piled onto two horses left by the fighting elves.

As we fled through the forest of Rom, we were played tricks on by Kinder Ashfoot and is tribe of Forest Gnomes. They befriended us and took us into their town for aid. The elders offered information on our plight and asked us to help them with disappearing townsfolk.

We investigated the Keep in question. Here we found Monkeys, Rats, Grimlocks, Giant Spiders, and ran from Bugbears. There is a much larger Shelob-type spider in the dungeon and we decided not to continue through the Keep. We saved a human from the spiders named Wipkip. He was grateful. We found dead gnomes. We hope to return and help the gnomes with their plight. One of our horses was killed and the other fled.

Notes: We were looking for a book with similar writing that is on the spear. We found where the book used to lay, but it was gone. A crow dropped one page from it, cackled and left. Also their was a mysterious woman’s voice laughing at us a few times.

We headed towards Birka. We met Mathens and he gave us more information on our plight:

Cool History Tarn/Tardek

The Elves are the only people aware of Tarn because they messed up and don’t want him uncovered.

The Elves don’t like Tarn

The Elves Magically or Somehow erased the memory of Tarn/Tardek.

Go to the desert to find a Mosque that should have weapons to help in killing Tardek.

Otherwise Elves will hunt us and take us in for trial and kill us.
Went back for more information and there were elven pack horses outside his house. Snuck through the town and got on a boat. The boat took us towards Dragonport. On the way we fought sea creatures and smited them. I almost threw the spear off the boat.

In Dragonport

Trying to avoid detection we resupply and leave the town. Kel’im was made and chased by a guard but he easily outran him.

We left and went to head through Heartwood Forest, crossed a bridge on the way and killed some barbarian thugs. Lumorn covered our tracks well.

Part Three

We found a clearing with Thugs and Guards arguing over a funeral pyre. We let them fight but then destroyed the Evil guards once we found out they were Evil Guards. Then Dorian Eagleheart, the leader of the thugs gave us a wooden token with an oak tree insignia which let us pass freely through his woods unharmed.

Once we passed into the lightning bolt territory, we found a group of rogues and as Lumorn investigated he was embarrassingly robbed, losing his weapons and money.

We then found a caravan carring a large box heading towards The Northern Heartwood Trading Post, commonly referred to as The Stronghold. Here we discovered the wooden box held a stone statue of a once-living elven woman named Jad’zia D’hax, who Francis was familiar with.

After gleaning more information on the subject, it was found that Jad’zia was the lover of The Boss, who took great delight in presenting her statue as a trophy, as she once scorned him and stole half of his possessions. We also learned that there was a Wizard named . He gave us direction to the Wizards whereabouts (Southeast) and we headed that way. (East until you see a bare hill, south until you see a river, leads to a waterfall, and the lair is behind the waterfall.

Part Four

As we approached the first landmark, a large hill with no trees, we saw two massive Praying Mantes attacking two adventurers. They killed them and we killed the Mantes. Then we camped on the hill and gained knowledge and experience.